GAME 1FROM BRYANT PRESS RELEASE
WINTER PARK, Fla. – The Bryant University baseball team opened up its 2008 season with a convincing 12-3 victory over Northeast-10 rival Bentley College in Game One of a Saturday doubleheader played at Rollins College.

The Bulldogs (1-0) got its 12 runs off 18 hits while holding the Falcons (0-1) to just three runs off nine hits, two unearned.

Shortstop Pat McKenna (Orange, Conn.) got the scoring started in the first with a single up the middle, sending Nick Campbell (Raynham, Mass.) – who doubled down the left field line with two outs – home and sending Bryant up, 1-0.

A pair of sacrifice flies in the second and third, from Dave Muscatello (Hopkinton, Mass.) to bring home Dylan Stone (Portsmouth, RI) in the second and from catcher Jeff Vigurs (South Windor, Conn.) to send around senior captain Jason Alexander (Simsbury, Conn.) in the third, gave the Bulldogs the 3-0 lead heading into the fourth.

Bentley came through in the bottom of the fourth with three hits and one run off 2007 Northeast-10 Conference Pitcher of the Year and Third-Team All-American Eric Loh (Old Greenwich, Conn.), but would allow Bryant eight more runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth before their final two crossed the plate in the bottom of the eighth. But both runs would be unearned, as the Falcons didn’t register a hit in the inning and Bryant committed three of its four errors on the day.

Freshman Sean McNiff (Andover, Mass.) found himself with the first home run of the season in the eighth with one out, when he took Matt Boudrow to the left center fences, driving the score to 8-1. The long shot was the first of four Bulldog runs in the inning.

Sophomore Taylor Ferguson (Charlton, Mass.) got in on the long ball as well, taking righty Bill Cekovsky deep for a run in the top of the ninth, finalizing the score at 12-3.

Loh pitched six innings of six-hit ball in the season opener to start his senior campaign 1-0. Bentley senior Chris Dupay falls to 0-1. Campbell led the day for Bryant, going 4-for-6 at the plate with three runs and two RBI.

Saturday’s game against Bentley was the first of a six-game Florida road trip stretching through Monday, Feb. 19. The Bulldogs take on Rollins Saturday night at 7 p.m.

GAME 2FROM ROLLINS COLLEGE RELEASE WINTER PARK, Fla. (February 16, 2008) – The Rollins baseball team used three homeruns, including a grand slam by sophomore catcher Ben Hewett, in a 16-4 win against Bryant on Saturday night at Alfond Stadium. The Tars won their fifth in a row and improved to 5-2, while the Bulldogs suffered their first defeat, falling to 1-1.

After allowing three runs in the top of the second, Rollins battled back with three-run homeruns in each of the next two. Senior first baseman Stefano Foggi brought home the first three on a blast to left center in the bottom of the second, and senior left fielder Mike Crane skied one over the right field wall to bring in three more in the third. Rollins came back with two more runs in the fourth and three in the fifth, and Hewett’s grand slam off the foul pole in right field gave the Tars a 15-3 lead in the sixth.

Right-hander Mario Lombardo (2-0) picked up the win for Rollins, allowing four runs, three earned through seven innings while striking out eight. Bryant starter Kevin Cobb (0-1) was credited with the loss after allowing 11 runs, nine earned, through four and one third innings.

Crane led the Rollins lineup with three hits in four at bats, scoring three times and driving in three. Hewett led the team with five RBI, and Foggi went 2-5 with four RBI. The Tars had at least one hit out of all nine spots in the lineup.

Rollins will return to play on Sunday, February 17 in another home game against Bryant starting at 7:00 p.m. Fans can listen to all the action live on the Citizens Bank of Florida Tars Sports Network at www.RollinsSports.tv.

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